Hold the Dark

Hold the Dark
Official poster
Directed by Jeremy Saulnier
Produced by
  • Russell Ackerman
  • Eva Maria Daniels
  • Neil Kopp
  • Anish Savjani
  • John Schoenfelder
Written by Macon Blair
Based on Hold the Dark
by William Giraldi
Starring
Music by
  • Brooke Blair
  • Will Blair
Cinematography Magnus Nordenhof Jønck
Edited by Julia Bloch
Production
companies
  • Addictive Pictures
  • VisionChaos Productions
  • FilmScience
Distributed by Netflix
Release date
  • September 12, 2018 (2018-09-12) (TIFF)
  • September 28, 2018 (2018-09-28) (worldwide)
Running time
 125 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English

Hold the Dark is a 2018 American thriller film directed by Jeremy Saulnier from a screenplay by Macon Blair. It is based upon the novel of the same name by William Giraldi and stars Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Skarsgård, James Badge Dale, Riley Keough, Tantoo Cardinal, and Julian Black Antelope.

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2018 and was released on September 28, 2018, by Netflix.

Plot

In December 2004, wolf expert Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright), a retired naturalist, is summoned to the small village of Keelut, Alaska to hunt down wolves blamed for the disappearances and presumed deaths of three small children. Medora Slone (Riley Keough), whose 6-year-old son, Bailey, was the third child to go missing, wants him to kill the wolves responsible. Her husband, Vernon (Alexander Skarsgård), meanwhile, is serving in the military in Iraq.

When Russell arrives in Alaska, he meets with Medora. Although she mentions the father of the second child taken, Cheeon, is a friend of her husband's, she says Russell won't be speaking to him.

That night, Russell wakes to the sound of Medora whispering from the bathroom. She exits the bathroom nude except for her wolf mask and approaches Russell. She removes the mask, lies down next to him and places his hand around her neck.

Russell leaves to track the wolves and meets a native woman who tells him he is going the wrong way and that Medora is evil. Russell finds a pack of wolves feeding on their own wolf pup, but he can't bring himself to shoot them. Upon returning to Medoras's house, he notices she is gone and appears to have packed. He sees the cellar door is unlocked and discovers the frozen body of Bailey, whom Medora had strangled and left for him to find. The villagers claim Medora is possessed by a wolf-demon called a tournaq.

Meanwhile, Vernon stabs to death a fellow U.S. soldier he witnesses raping an Iraqi woman. Vernon is shot in the neck but survives, and is shipped home. On returning home, he is taken to the morgue to see his son and the officers promise they will find Medora and have a tip she is at an old mine camp. Vernon shoots and kills two police officers and medical examiner with Cheeon's gun and takes Bailey's body.

Vernon and Cheeon bury Bailey in a pine box, marking it with symbols in blood, and Vernon burns the investigative report on Bailey's death, determined to hunt down Medora and seek his own justice. Vernon visits a local witch woman, Illanaq, who had warned Russell to stay away; they discuss wolves, and then he kills her.

Russell tries to tell the police department to seek out Illanaq. He heads to Keelut and finds Illanaq's body. The police arrive to talk to Cheeon about the dead police officers. Cheeon, upset at the officers for not investigating his daughters disappearance, is hostile and opens fire on the squad from his second floor window. Police chief Donald Marium (James Badge Dale) gains access to the house and shoots Cheeon, killing him.

Vernon asks about Medora at a hotel and shows around an old photo of them together. He is allowed access to the room she stayed in.

At the hotel, Vernon meets John, an elderly man who supplies wolf products. John says Vernon's father brought young Vernon to him because Vernon was "unnatural" and was told wolf oil would fix it. He says he gave boots to Medora a few days ago, when she passed through, but she left her wolf mask.

Vernon chooses a mask from the wall, puts it on and fatally shoots John. As he leaves, Vernon is shot at by the hotel owner, and takes a hit to the shoulder.

Vernon visits an old friend, Shan, who informs him that Cheeon has died. Shan pulls the bullet from Vernon's shoulder.

Russell and Marium theorize that Medora killed Bailey to save him from darkness. Russell recalls Medora's saying the nearby hot springs are "a good place to get clean" and thinks she might have gone there. They agree to go after Medora and catch her before Vernon does.

Vernon, meanwhile, has a dream of himself and Medora in the hot springs. Now awake, he overhears Shan's informing the police that he's there. Vernon puts on the mask and stabs Shan in the head. The police force splits up, half going to the crime scene at Shan's house, and Marium and Russell going to the hot springs.

When looking at some wolf tracks in the snow, Marium is shot through the neck by an arrow fired by Vernon, who is wearing the mask. Russell leaves Marium's body and heads to the hot springs, hoping to intercept Vernon. He finds Medora in the springs and is then, again inexplicably, arrowed in the chest by Vernon.

As Vernon strangles her, Medora pushes the mask off his face. He releases her and they embrace. Russell falls unconscious.

When Russell wakes, Vernon offers him a cigarette. Vernon removes the arrow from Russell's body before leaving with Medora. Russell crawls outside the cave and encounters a pack of wolves. He is found by a father and son with a snowmachine and brought to their home for care. Vernon is seen digging up Bailey's grave with Medora; they pull the coffin along with them as they trek through the snow. Russell wakes up in hospital, his daughter Amy at his bedside.

Cast

Production

In September 2015, it was announced Jeremy Saulnier would direct the film, based upon a screenplay by Macon Blair, while Eva Maria Daniels, Russell Ackerman and John Schoenfelder would produce the film under their VisionChaos Productions banner and Addictive Pictures banners respectively, A24 would distribute the film.[2] In January 2017, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film, with Anish Savjani and Neil Kopp joining as producers.[3] In February 2017, Alexander Skarsgård, Riley Keough, James Bloor, James Badge Dale and Jeffrey Wright, joined the cast of the film.[4]

Filming

Principal photography began on February 27, 2017, and concluded on April 26, 2017. Filming took place in and around the areas surrounding Calgary and Kananaskis Country, Alberta, which were used to substitute for Alaska.[5][6]

Release

It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2018.[7] It also screened at Fantastic Fest on September 22, 2018.[8][9] It was released on September 28, 2018.[10]

Critical reception

Hold the Dark received generally positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported a 67% approval rating based on 51 reviews, with an average score of 6.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Hold the Dark's unsettling aesthetic offers more of what filmgoers expect from director Jeremy Saulnier - and is often enough to prop up shaky narrative underpinnings."[11] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 63 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Hold the Dark". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  2. ↑ Kroll, Justin (September 24, 2015). "A24, 'Green Room' Helmer Reteaming on Thriller 'Hold the Dark'". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  3. ↑ McNary, Dave (January 26, 2017). "Netflix to Distribute Thriller 'Hold the Dark' With 'Green Room' Director". Variety. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  4. ↑ Kit, Borys (February 10, 2017). "Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Skarsgard, James Badge Dale to Star in Netflix Thriller 'Hold the Dark' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  5. ↑ "HOLD THE DARK – FEATURE FILM- UNION (Non-Union talent may also apply)". EbossCanada.com. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Hold the Dark" (PDF). Directors Guild of America. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  7. ↑ Kay, Jeremy (August 14, 2018). "Toronto unveils Contemporary World Cinema, more Galas and Special Presentations". Screen International. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Hold the Dark". Fantastic Fest. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  9. ↑ Day-Ramos, Dino (August 22, 2018). "Fantastic Fest: 'Halloween', 'Hold The Dark', 'Climax' Set For Second Wave Of Programming". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  10. ↑ Travis, Ben (August 9, 2018). "Jeremy Saulnier's Green Room Follow-Up Hold The Dark Has His 'Highest Body Count' – Exclusive Image". Empire Magazine. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Hold the Dark (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Hold the Dark Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
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